Maryland
Joe Vogel makes his mark in Md. General Assembly
Montgomery County Democrat is one of state’s youngest lawmakers
Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) on Sunday during an interview with the Washington Blade praised the many legislative milestones that marked this year’s legislative session.
Most of the lawmaker’s bills addressed the opioid crisis, mental health, gun violence and LGBTQ issues. Vogel noted he opted to work to safeguard people’s fundamental rights.
“We have been leading the way on this [LGBTQ issues.] This legislative session, we passed a bill to expand access to gender-affirming care for Medicaid recipients, making it so that if you are poor and on Medicaid, you have access to the same gender affirming care as if you are wealthy, and on private insurance,” he told the Blade before he attended the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund’s National Champagne Brunch that took place at the JW Marriott Hotel in D.C.
Maryland has also been at the forefront of abortion rights by driving the efforts to enshrine the right into the state’s constitution. The General Assembly also passed a measure to end the state’s statute of limitations for when a civil suit can be filed against public or private institutions when related to child sexual abuse.
Vogel described Democratic Gov. Wes Moore as “a phenomenal champion for the LGBTQ+ community.”
“He has been a partner on a lot of these pieces of legislation that I mentioned earlier,” said Vogel. “He had us over at his house recently just to express to our LGBTQ+ caucus — just to express his commitment to our community.”
Vogel differentiated Moore from other governors, including Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
“He (Moore) is someone who is such a contrast to governors like Ron DeSantis, or Greg Abbott,” said Vogel. “They wake up every morning thinking about what they can do to hurt our community, whereas the governor of Maryland right, Wes Moore, he wakes up every morning, and I’m convinced he thinks about what you can do for the well-being of every Marylander. And that includes the LGBTQ community.”
‘There is a hunger for a new generation of leadership’
Vogel, who represents District 17, is 26 and one of the House of Delegates’ youngest members.
“There is a hunger for a new generation of leadership,” Vogel told the Blade, referring to young politicians who are beginning to take center stage around the country. “And I think, without a doubt, you have a Republican Party that is intent on eroding our democracy — on attacking our fundamental rights.”
Vogel, who was born in Uruguay, noted the similarity he saw between the dictatorship that his homeland suffered in the 20th century and the current situation in the U.S.
“It’s something very interesting about the fall of your democracy — is that what you had going on, there was a far right, that was chipping away at those democratic institutions. And the left was growing hopeless, and losing faith in democratic governance,” he said. “They were saying, ‘Well, the system’s broken anyways, it’s not benefiting us, whatever. We don’t care about anything.’ And if you look at this country right now, though, that is a pattern that we are seeing here, we are seeing a far right attempting to chip away in whatever way they can at our fundamental rights and democratic institutions.”
Uruguay’s civic-military dictatorship lasted 12 years, from 1973-1985. It carried out many human rights violations that included the use of extreme torture methods and forced disappearances.
The term “civic-military” refers to the military regime’s relatively slow annexing of power from civilian presidents who continued to serve as head of state — contrary to other Latin American countries in which militaries immediately took control through coups.
Vogel, for his part, did not rule out the possibility of running for higher office, calling it a possibility to continue to “fight” for the issues that are happening today.
“That’s what we’ll do,” he said.
Maryland
A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center
Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump
BY WESLEY CASE | Tavish Forsyth had come to a conclusion: They could not work for President Donald Trump.
So the 32-year-old Baltimore resident stripped down, turned on their camera, and lit their career on fire.
“F—— Donald Trump and f—— the Kennedy Center,” a naked Forsyth, an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, which is run by the Kennedy Center, said in a video that went viral. The board of the nation’s leading cultural institution had elected Trump just weeks prior as its chairman after he gutted the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland
Md. schools plan to comply with federal DEI demands
Superintendents opt for cooperation over confrontation
By LIZ BOWIE | Deciding not to pick a fight with the Trump administration, Maryland school leaders plan to sign a letter to the U.S. Department of Education that says their school districts are complying with all civil rights laws.
The two-paragraph letter could deflect a confrontation over whether the state’s public schools run diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that the Trump administration has called illegal. The Baltimore Banner reviewed the letter, which was shared by a school administrator who declined to be identified because the letter has not yet been sent.
Maryland school leaders are taking a more conciliatory approach than those in some other states. Education leaders in Minnesota, New York, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, and Wisconsin said they will not comply with the federal education department’s order, the demands of which, they say, are based on a warped interpretation of civil rights law.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland
FreeState Justice: Transgender activist ‘hijacked’ Moore’s Transgender Day of Visibility event
Maryland Commission on LGBTQIA+ Affairs describes Lee Blinder’s comments as ‘call to action’
FreeState Justice on April 11 released a statement criticizing the way that Trans Maryland Executive Director Lee Blinder treated Gov. Wes Moore during a Transgender Day of Visibility event.
FreeState Justice was extremely disappointed with the criticisms of Moore on the Transgender Day of Visibility, saying it was “hijacked by public hostility” by Blinder. The Baltimore Banner reported how Blinder “laid out how the Democratic governor has let down transgender Marylanders by not putting money in the budget and not backing needed policy changes.”
The Washington Blade interviewed Blinder after the March 31 event.
“The intention of what I shared is to show to the governor that this is a community in distress. You know, we are in a real state of emergency for the trans community and there are very few opportunities that the community has to share this directly with the governor.” Blinder told the Blade. “We’re really grateful to the governor for everything that he’s done in the past for this community, but the circumstances have changed and we really need to see very specific actions taken in order to ensure this community has the ability to exist in public space.”
FreeState Justice said Moore did not deserve such criticisms during the event and added in a Blade oped it is “time for new leadership on the Maryland LGBTQIA+ Commission. Leadership that values and prioritizes coalition over conflict. Leadership that invites feedback and shares power. Leadership that understands how Annapolis operates, how budgets are constructed, and how community victories are won.”
“We’re not saying don’t challenge power. We’re saying do it with purpose. Do it with facts. Do it with a strategy. If you’re going to call yourself a leader in this movement, show us the policy platform. Show us the data. Show us the budget line. Show us the work,” wrote FreeState Justice.
The Maryland Commission on LGBTQIA+ Affairs has met to address FreeState Justice’s statements.
“During the Transgender Day of Visibility ceremony at the State House, the commission’s chair offered remarks reflecting the real fears, concerns, and hopes of the trans community. These remarks were not a call-out, but a call to action,” the commission said in their call to action statement it sent to the Blade. “The chair’s words echoed the thousands of voices we’ve heard across the state through phone calls, emails, and messages on social media to our staff, commissioners, and their affiliated organizations.”
The statement outlines what the call to action entails, addressing what the commission found to be the most pressing issues for transgender Marylanders. They include a lack of dedicated funding, barriers to affirming healthcare, housing insecurity and homelessness, discrimination in education and employment, and escalating violence, harassment, and hate.
“We remain deeply committed to working in partnership with the Moore-Miller administration, the General Assembly, state agencies, nonprofit organizations, and community partners to ensure LGBTQIA+ Marylanders are seen, protected, and supported in policy, budget, and in practice,” reads the statement.
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